Frictional draft gear



Aug. 7,1923;

'R. J'. COOK FRICTIONAL DRAFT GEAR Filed Dec.

59, 1918 s Sheets-Shed 1 Aug. 7, 1923. 1,463.873

R. J. cocm- FRICTIONAL DRAFT GEAR Filed Dec. 30. 1918 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I7 J52 jf Aug. 7, 1923. 1,463,873

R. J. COOK FR ICTI ONAL DRAFT GEAR Filed Dec. 30, 1918' s Sheets-Sheet 5Patented 7, 1923..

BOY T. COOK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE C. MURRAY, OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FRICTIONAL DRAFT GEAR.

Application filed December 30, 1918. Serial No. 268,944.

To allwhomtmay concern.

Be itlrnown that I, Ror J. Coon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improveinents in Frictional Draft Gears,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in friction draft gears forrailway cars, and the like, and its purpose is to provide an improveddraft gear attachment comprising a small number of parts, withoutsacrifice of efficiency. The principal object of the invention is toprovide a friction draft gear having a singlespring, in combination withan improved construction and arrangement of friction elements. A.further object is to provide a draft gear comprising a supplementaryyoke. Another object is to provide improved means for mounting thefriction elements within the drawbar yolre. Other objects relate tovarious features of construction and arrangement which will bepointedout more fully hereinafter.

In the drawings- Figure 1 shows a top plan view of my invention with aportion thereof illustrated in horizontal section on the line 1-1 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 2 shows a transverse sectional view, taken on the line 22 of Fig.6; i

Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of one of the friction blocks;

Fig. 4c shows a perspective view of another friction block;

Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of the rear follower or casing;

Fig. 6 shows a side elevation of the invention with the lower partthereof illustrated in vertical section on the line 66 of Fig. 2;

Fig-7 shows a perspective view of the front casing or follower; and

Fig. 8 shows a perspective view of the supplementary or inside yoke.

In the drawings the invention is illustrated as being mounted betweenthe usual draft sills 10, of channel form, which have the draft lugs 11secured thereto by rivets 12. The draft rigging is supported by thecarrier bars 13, which are secured to the lower flanges of the draftsills by bolts or rivets 14. The drawbar yoke 15 is of the usual form,having the upper and lower lustrated in Fig. 3.

arms thereof secured by rivets 16 to the butt 17* of the drawbar 17. Thelower wall of the yoke is adapted to engage the depressions 13 in thecarrier bars 13.

Mounted within the forward ends of the yoke 15 is the front casing orfollower 20, which is of the form illustrated particularly in Fig. 7. Itcomprises parallel upper and lower walls 21 and 22, respectively,connected at their forward ends by the integral. forward wall 23. Theupper and lower walls are united at their rear ends by the inclinedconverging; walls 9/1, reinforcin ribs or webs 25 extend forwardly fromthe inclined walls 2 1 to the forward wall 28. The inner edges of theinclined walls 24 are shown at 24 for a purpose hereinafterto bedescribed, and the upper andlower Walls are provided with openings 27.This casing 20 is adapted to rest upon the forward carrier bar 13.

The rear follower seats against the rear wall of the yoke 15, and is ofthe form illustrated particularly in Fig. 5. lit comprises upper andlower walls 31 and 32, respectively, which are united by the inclineddiverging walls 33. The upper and lower walls and the diverging wallsare united at their rear ends by the rear wall 3 1, and reinforcing webs35 extend between the rear wall and the inclined walls 33.

The supplementary yoke 38 is mounted within the casing 20, and extendsinto the rear follower 30. This supplementary yoke is of rectangularform, as shown in Figs. 6 and 8, the same being provided with upper andlower walls 58 and 38 respectively, which are united by the front wall38 and the rear wall 38 This supplementary yoke serves asa container forthe friction blocks 39, which are triangular in cross section, as shownin Figs. 1 and 1, and which fit between the upper and lower walls of thesupplementary yoke. These wedge blocks are hollow, and are reinforced bya central web 39 as shown in Fig. 1. Two of these wedge blocks arearranged in the. manner shown in Fig. 1, and the diverging inclinedfaces 39 thereof are adapted to coact with the surfaces 40 of theoutside wedge blocks, 10, which are of the form il- These outside wedgeblocks are provided. with six faces or walls,

including the surfaces 40 which coact with the diverging walls 24: and33 of the front casing and rear follower, respectively. The wedge blocksl are hollow, and are reinforced by transverse web il-0, as shown inFig. 3. They are further provided with notches L0 to provide clearancefor the up per and lower walls of the supplementary yoke 38 when theseblocks move inwardly, due to the compression of the draft rigging, itbeing understood that the friction blocks 40 fit between the upper andlower walls of the front casing and the rear follower, and rest upon thelower walls 22 and 3:2, which walls also serve to support the supplementary yoke. The central wedge blocks 39 are provided with registeringnotches ll, and the outside wedge blocks are provided with aliningopenings 42, which permit a bolt to pass therethrough for holding thedraft rigging in assembled relation when it is not in position betweenthe draft sills, with a coil spring 43 extending between the inclinedwalls 24 of the front casing, as per mitted by the notches 24c,previously described, and seating at one end against the forward block39. At the other end this spring engages the forward wall 38 of thesupplementary yoke 38. The front wall is provided with a dowel pin orlug n, and the rear wall of the supplementary yoke is provided withanother dowel pin or lug 45, these lugs being adapted.to engage thespring 43 and an aperture in the rear wedge block 39, respectively, inorder to prevent lateral displacement of the parts of the apparatus.

Upon forward movement of the drawbar, the rear wall. of the yoke movesthe rear follower 30 in a forward direction, thereby causing the outsideblocks l0 to move in wardly on the inclined walls 24 and 33 of the frontcasing and the rear follower. At the same time the rear wedge block 39moves rearwardly on the inclined surfaces 40 of the outside wedgeblocks, and the front wedge block 39 moves forwardly on the co actingsurfaces of the blocks 40, thereby causin the spring 43 to be compressedby the forward movement of the forward block 39 and the simultaneousrearward movement of the supplementary yoke 38, due to the rearwardmovement of the rear wedge block 39. When the drawbar is moved in arearward direction, the front casing is moved rearwardly, while the rearfollower remains stationary against the rear draft lugs 11, thus causingthe outside blocks to move inwardly in the manner previously described,thereby operating the central wedge blocks 39 and compressing the spring43, as will be readily understood.

Although I have shown and described a single embodiment'of the inventionfor purposes of illustration, it will be understood supported by saidfirst named yoke anl supporting said supplemental yoke independentlythereof, said movementresisting mechanism being retained by saidsupplemental yoke which extends around a portion thereof.

2. In combination a yoke, a casing and a follower mounted in andsupported by said yoke, friction movement-resisting mechanism coactingwith and supported by said casing and said follower, and a supplementalyoke surrounding said friction movement resisting mechanism andsupported thereby independently of said first named yoke,

3. The combination in a draft gear of oppositely disposed box-likefollowers, a yoke surrounding said followers and coacting directlytherewith, friction movement-resisting mechanism retained in andactuated by said followers, a yielding resistance member co-operatingwith said frictionmechanism, and a supplementary yoke in which saidfriction mechanism and said yielding resistance member are retained. i

4. The combination in a draft gear, of a yoke, a pair of box-likefollowers mounted in opposite ends of said yoke, friction movementresisting mechanism for controlling the relative movements of saidfollowers, said mechanism comprising a supplementary yoke having upperand lower walls and end walls located within said first-named yoke, anddraft lugs adapted to coact with said followers.

5. The combination in a draft gear of a yoke, box-like followers mountedin opposite ends of said yoke, side friction blocks coacting with saidfollowers, intermediate friction blocks coacting with said side frictionblocks, and m ans comprising a supplementary yoke extending around saidintermediate friction blocks for controlling the relative movements ofsaid friction blocks and said followers.

6. The combination in a draft gear of a yoke, box-like followers mountedin said yoke and having inclined flanges, friction blocks coaoting withsaid inclined flanges, central friction blocks coacting with said firstnamed friction blocks, a supplemental yoke extending around said centralfriction blocks, and a spring interposed between one of said centralfriction blocks and the opposite end of said supplemental yoke.

7. The combination in a draft gear of a yoke, box-like followers mountedin said yoke and having inclined flanges, friction blocks interposedbetween said followers and coacting with the inclined flanges there of,said friction blocks having oppositely inclined surfaces converginginwardly, central friction blocks of triangular cross-section coactingwith the inwardly converging surface of said first named frictionblocks, a supplemental yoke having upper and lower walls and end walls,said supplemental yoke having one end wall engaging one of said centralfriction blocks, and a spring interposed between the other centralfriction block and the other end wall of said supplemental yoke,saidfriction blocks, said spring and said supplemental yoke beingretained within said followers.

8. The combination in a draft gear of boxlike followers oppositelydisposed, friction movement resisting mechanism actuated by one of saidfollowers, a yielding resistance member cooperating with said frictionmechanism, and a supplemental yoke in which said friction mechanism andsaid yielding resistance member are retained, said friction mechanismand said yielding resistance member being operatively connected to saidsupplemental yoke and to said followers.

9. The combination in a draft gear of a yoke, a box-like followermounted in one end of said yoke and a second follower mounted in theother end of said yoke, said first follower having inclined flangesdiverging toward said second follower, said second follower havinginclined flanges diverging toward said first follower, intermediatefriction blocks supported by and within said followers and havinginclined flanges coacting with the inclined flanges thereof, saidintermediate blocks having their inclined surfaces converging inwardly,central friction blocks having inclined. surfaces coacting with saidinwardly converging surfaces of said intermediate friction blocks, aspring located within said first follower and coacting with one of saidcentral friction blocks, and means for connecting said spring with theother central friction block.

10. The combination in a draft gear of a yoke, a box-like followermounted in one end of said yoke, and a second follower mount ed in theother end of said yoke, said first follower having inclined flangesdiverging toward said second follower, said second follower havinginclined flanges diverging toward said first follower, intermediatefriction blocks supported by said first follower and said secondfollower and having inclined surfaces coacting with the inclined flangesthereof, said intermediate blocks having their inclined surfacesconverging in wardly, central friction blocks having in clined surfacescoacting with said inwardly converging surfaces of said intermediatefriction blocks, a spring engaging one of said central friction blocksand a supple mental yoke extending around said spring and said centralfriction blocks.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

ROY J. COOK.

